CargoSmart Limited, a leading Software as a Service (SaaS) global shipping and logistics solutions provider, announced its Import Control System Solution for ocean carriers to comply with the upcoming European Union Regulation 1875/2006, also known as the European Union's '24-hour rule.' CargoSmart's solution allows carriers, including carrier-approved Non-Vessel Operating Common Carrier (NVOCC) or forwarder self-filers, to file required advance customs information, monitor filing status, view priority filings, measure compliance by ports, and monitor performance trends. The solution allows customers to comply with the regulation, improve compliance through analytic dashboards, and save time, development effort, and costs to integrate and maintain system connections to meet multiple countries' filing requirements.

Starting on January 1, 2011, ocean carriers will be required to file Entry Summary Declarations (ENS) for shipments bound for the European Union (EU). Carriers will be responsible for submitting the filings through the EU's Import Control System (ICS) no later than 24 hours before vessel loading at the foreign port for deep sea containerized shipments and two hours before vessel arrival for short sea shipments. If the ENS is not filed in a timely manner or if the data is inaccurate or incomplete, carriers may be subject to penalties and shippers may face supply chain delays from customs holds.

COSCO Container Lines Co., Ltd. (COSCON) has selected CargoSmart's ICS Solution to manage its filings for seven European entry ports, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Malta, France, Romania, Slovenia, and Cyprus. 'CargoSmart's ICS solution prepares us for the new regulation in January and helps us better serve our customers with its sophisticated compliance management tools,' said Huaihai Chen, IT project manager of the COSCON EU24 project. 'Not only will CargoSmart's ICS solution enable us to submit complete and accurate filings, it will provide us with analysis tools to spot exceptions, view our daily compliance rate by country, and highlight shipments that need urgent attention to meet filing deadlines.'

'We are extending CargoSmart's customs solution offerings to meet the European Union's increased security requirements,' said Joe O'Brien, managing director of CargoSmart North America. 'The EU's 24-hour rule will come into effect in less than three months. Each member state has its own specifications to comply with the regulation. CargoSmart's ICS Solution helps carriers comply in time that have not yet started or completed integrations with each country.'

CargoSmart's ICS Solution builds upon its existing shipment management capabilities to offer a filing service and advanced analytical tools. Features include:

  • Customs Filing ' Send and receive ENS filing and arrival notice messages through CargoSmart in a standardized format and transmission protocol, saving time and development effort to integrate with multiple member states.
  • Basic Visibility ' Monitor filing status through a dashboard and reports for filings in progress and with accepted, rejected, and do not load messages.
  • Advanced Visibility ' Analyze the filing process from an operational perspective to improve compliance performance. Prioritize submissions with alerts for filings that have not been submitted and accepted within specified time parameters, identify areas for improvement with compliance rates by port, and measure performance over time with daily overall compliance rates.